4 ms·
This is hilarious. First the media beats the drum of, the drug war is evil, the drug war is costing us millions, the drug war is ineffective, people need treat
by gxs 11y ago
This is hilarious.
First the media beats the drum of, the drug war is evil, the drug war is costing us millions, the drug war is ineffective, people need treatment not incarceration..they've been running this campaign for years.
Now that people are waking up to this fact, we're going to chalk it up to plain old racism.
Give me a break.
- linuxkerneldev 11y ago> Now that people are waking up to this fact, we're going to chalk it up to plain old racism. Racism was a significant component of the drug war from the beginning. The article doesn't seek to "chalk it up to plain old racism", rather the article seeks to shed light on some of the racial aspects of policy making. http://www.drugpolicy.org/race-and-drug-war http://www.drugpolicy.org/race-and-drug-war
- Spooky23 11y agoYour link doesn't support the assertion. Yes, crackdowns on crack cocaine impacted minorities much more proportionally. But remember that the "innovation" associated with crack was the cheap nature of it. A fast high for $10. Overall drug consumers have always trended white. Police resources are focused on sales, which happens in cities. Retail drug operations are designed around the laws, so the retail frontline people get swept up as users (because they carry small quantities), which impacts minority users harder.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- dragontamer 11y agoSomewhat, because African Americans explicitly asked for harsh anti-drug laws in their communities. http://i.imgur.com/NkyayV0.jpg http://i.imgur.com/NkyayV0.jpg The country was (more) racist back then, but we can't forget that the Black community was the first anti-drug community. Harsh drug laws were just how things were done back then.
- nickgrosvenor 11y agoTotally. This quote from the article illustrates its assumptions. "But today, with heroin ravaging largely white communities in New England, the Northeast and the Midwest, and with violent crime largely down, the mood is more forgiving." Wow, that escalated fast.
- joesmo 11y agoI don't see why both factors can't be at play since they are in reality.
- task_queue 11y agoReminder that people only started caring about police brutality when it became common knowledge that the cops could break down your door and shoot your dog with impunity. The decades of brutality against the poor and racial minorities before that triggered no such reaction and was applauded by many.